This is Andrew Hovell's blog. He lives in Northern England. He plans for a living. He likes tea

July 29, 2008

I'm sitting alone the Breakfast Club in Soho.It's the first time I've been in here without the coffee morning/planning cabal type people, which feels a little strange, but good strange, it's quiet and, on your own, this is a good place to sit think and reflect (the carrot cake is beyond reproach too).

Soon I'm off to one of those IPA events full of earnest, slightly scary Unilever type people, I'm sure I'll learn something, but you can guess where I would prefer to be.

All I have is a notebook, a pen and a relatively decent book on what makes ideas sticky. The phone is off to conserve power and the laptop is kaput (forgot both chargers). And it's a joy.

Time to slow down, think properly about one or two things. No need to talk, no need to answer persistent emails. Sometimes it's the little pleasures that you really savour.

Then I walk, I don't run, to where I need to be. Others are hustling past me, some fizzing with purpose, others needlessly impatient. Time has slowed down for me, everyone is else is a blur, like those stop motion films of clouds hurtling across the sky.

I'll be them again in a few minutes but for now, it's nice to exist in different dimension to every one else.

The subject matter was proprietary brand models, good/bad/how do you manage do get good thinking when you're wedded to a process and tick box? Now for the record, I'm not the greatest fan of fixed process and models, but I also believe some sort of framework for your thought process can be useful, most of all when you're starting out.

But the general rules of developing strategy are pretty universal I think, maybe with a modern emphasis on finding out what people are interested in more rather than assuming they're sitting waiting for your selling messages.

Put simply, delve into the consumer culture, delve into the brand /product /service culture, find the connection. A more detailed way of looking at stuff can be found here if you're interested.

Anyway, back to that Bullmore column. I kind of agree that few agency brand planning tools are really unique, but I really didn't agree with the assertion that all are merely there to enable execution tweaking which was his take.

Take Brains' , sorry, Maurice Saatchi's One Word Equity - I hate it, I don't agree you can always shove all the nuance of a brand into one word. BUT, it's an attempt to frame all brand thinking well before execution and do something appropriate for the messy media world brands inhabit.

Take TBWA's Disruption, I'm saying for a moment that just being different is enough (and it's more complex than that anyway) but still, it's a way of thinking that can get to the heart of the business model, even before brand frameworks.

Now, Mcann's demand chain IS bobbins, that's as generic as they come.

I guess what I'm saying is that models and stuff have a place, some do exist as 'ad tweakers' but some are sort of useful, and work at the level of brand frameworks. And I'd take any agency over horrendously overpaid brand consultancies any day.

Even more contentious, what's wrong with ad tweaking anyway? I'm not sure that the quest for the big idea is always the best approach. There's plenty of great brands that do what's right for right now, and let the little stuff build up to richer picture, a little like Pointillism I guess.

Tone of voice doesn't get into briefings and strategic development enough, and it sort of should. Come to think of it, I'm all for something that helps us develop the most appropriate way in, but that wasn't the point so I'll end it here.

On the other hand, this is an article about running a 100k race. Profound in many ways, it suggests that the author only had so much running in him. This kind of thing always makes me wonder, is this the case for all of us? And how much is this psychological v physical.

Thinking about creative people, there seems to be a pattern where they burn brightly for a period, before going into a gradual decline- still brilliant but never matching the heights of their pomp.

As far as the physical stuff goes for me, I bitterly regret the things I'll never know about. The cartilage in my left hip has worn away, so I can't run for more than twenty minutes these days. I'll never know how a marathon feels, how I could handle an iron man triathlon, I can't even find out if I can beat my 10K best time. This means sticking to swimming, tennis and cycling, which isn't too bad I suppose. I'm thinking of trying some cycling challenges next year, 50 mile races or something.

But the thing that most grabs me about this film is the way it works after you've seen it. It's enthralling to be sure, but it finishes and then a little later you start thinking, then a little more..and you cannot stop going back over the film, getting more depth, making more links. It just gets better the longer it is since you watched it. Is that an example of deceptive cadence?

Now consider ads and stuff, how they have to compete with popular culture now they cannot interupt. How many ads make you want to think and discuss like that?

July 18, 2008

July 16, 2008

Someone I know was the last boyfriend of a lovely girl who came out a month after dumping him. Made him question himself.

Not in that league this, two agencies I used to work at are on the ropes. The first has a credit crunched bank as the biggest client, the second basically mis-managed itself into a fire sale and finally liquidated a year or so after. I'm crossing my fingers for other past employers.

Joking aside, I'm not sure how I feel about the one that has just been forced to close it's doors. I had a mixed time there. Some great memories of some good people are mixed with some less cherished ones. One one hand, the recent news is laced with subtle trace of Schadenfreude (can't be arsed to spell check that).

But then, this was a lot of people with jobs, debts and families. And the place had a once proud history, I learned a lot there too. I'm where I am now because of bad things there as well as good. Hard to complain at that.

Before I go on, brand essences, visions, positionings, onions, ladders and God knows what have their place. Sometimes you need a box full of ticks to give you a common frame of reference with clients, especially at board level. There, I've said. But you'll find it hard to get something interesting enough for today's mediascape if you stop there.

That goes for tone of voice too. This is an old rant, but the embers are still warm. More than once, I've been furnished with a hallowed huge tone of voice document from some brand consultancy,expected use it to inform the verbal and non-verbal bits of creative work. In other words, take the useless thing the ones a galaxy away from the creative did and make it relevant for the poor sods who have to actually execute something.

Now, to the bit I want to talk about. If you haven't read Faris' thesis on transmedia thinking, you should. If you still can't be bothered (shame on you) simply consider that brand communication needs to be both complex and coherent accross a myriad of media, for a myriad of audience groups, who will mould the story in their own way, and talk to different people about in in different levels. That's life I'm afraid.

And don't scoff, that's how popular culture is going. The Star Wars films my have ended, but there's a cartoon spin off coming this summer, and the next ''game' is actually another prequel instalment in its own right, with a conclusion that turns the series on its head. Of course, you can stick with the films if you like, or maybe read a couple of books, or you may have read some of the comics as a kid - engage as much as you like. Not to mention the compexity of Lost, The Dr Who spin off series' or even how you'll neverf truly get Donnie Darko without some time on the website.

It's not as hard or incoherent as it looks. George Lucas has a back story for Star Wars long before he wrote the first script. Jk Rowling had a core Potter timeline in place well before the first book. Tolkien created language and mythology for his world long before he wrote the Hobbit...depth, history....back story.

That's starts with a film pitch quality for brands...something concise, but rich enough for lots of sub-plots (evolving tactical objectives), character arcs (different reaons to enage for different fans) and spin offs (brand extensions). Like Buffy's 'horror in high school' the X-Files 'paranormal FBI departement, the Bourne films 'Crack assassin with amnesia' and of course, the great Heroes 'People with superpowers but not in comic book land'.

Write a back story first, look for the story arc, then look to compress it. As long as you know it's generous enough for lots of episodes/chapters, it makes planning for brands at once consistent and liberating. It becomes, "Where should the story go now, based on what we know we need to achieve".

It's only one way of doing it, but it seems to help me. Have a go, see what you think.

I took Mrs Northern to see Kylie in Manchester last night. She loved it, which is all that matters, but I couldn't help but enjoy it.

Not only was it a great show, there's something about strength in numbers that makes shows like this really special. In spite of yourself, you can't help the mirror neurons firing, smiling, clapping along and generally feeling like you belong. Brands don't bring their tribes together enough in my view.

More people in agencies should go see performances like last night because:

1. They show how to present to a crowd. I didn't see the lyrics behind her as she sung, like you do with most powerpoint presentations. The visuals, films and lights were a backdrop that added to songs, made them more powerful. That's how to present.

2. Kylie was shamelessly populist when she started singing, then tried to go cool, grungy and even indie. Didn't work. No one wanted a grungy Kylie, it wasn't her 'thing', they wanted a little pop princess Kylie. That's when she came back in from the cold...cacatchy pop songs with a added dollop of sexiness and genuine innovation in her shows. That's her thing, that what she does best.

That's a lesson for agencies, who are prone to making their work what they want it to be, rather than what the brand's fans do. And it's a lesson for clients, who are often guilty of wanting their brand to be something it's not.Kylie's no Joni Mitchell, but what she does, she does well, and her public loves it.

Which brings me to Orange's new '"I am" work. It's taken a pasting in the trade, but I bet it's working. It's a truth for a start, we're all shaped by how we interact with others (last night showed that). But also, the people I've spoken to who don't live in an advertising bubble think it's really nice, gives them warm glow and makes them 'like' Orange. Attention? Tick. Involvement? Tick. Salience? Tick. Talkabilty? Tick again.

I hate those Halifix ads with the staff. You talk to their customers, it's like catnip. We're here to suprise and delight THEM not us, our creative directors or Claire Beale.

July 14, 2008

Good: The Famous David Mortimer is joining my planning department on a placement, and maybe even his first job once he shows what he can do. Also, he's get to try my tea, a Damascene experience if ever there was one.

Bad: Once he shows his skills he'll expose us older charlatans and I'll probably me out on my ear.

July 10, 2008

Like I've said before, we're all good at something and we should respect and celebrate that, or in another way, those that do things we can't, or don't want to. When I worked on Morrisons I had to spend some time working a checkout and failed miserably, checkout people make it look very, very, easy. There's a world tiddly winks champion, and good for him, he's spent thousands of hours getting that good.

This goes for agencies, where the culture seems to celebrate the big names, the thinkers and the ideas people. On one hand, take away the junior suits who organise the meetings for other people who have to be cajoled, bullied and coaxed into meeting rooms, who do the contact reports and oil the whole client relationship where it really matters, the bread and butter day to day. A background as a suit make's me quite organised for a planner, but I pale next my ghd team, they love the jobs I hate and make it look so easy.

Think about the real doers, traffic, the studio, the buildings manager, production, TV department...accounts who make sure we're payed, dreaded HR who sort out pensions for us. No none talks about them, says thanks, or says hi enough.They should, without them we'd fall apart.

When you start in an agency, make sure you get to know the junior suits, creatives and clients really well, they're the ones that make things happen. But if you really want to know how a place works, if you really want to get things done, make friends with the real doers..traffic, productions, buildings managers and, of course, the receptionists and PA's. These (usually girls) know EVERYTHING, and can do lots of little things for you..the battle for rooms, the battle for their masters'/mistress' time, and lots of supposedly little things that matter a great deal.

Here's to the doers...ideas are nothing without them to see them through.

July 08, 2008

When I used to swim I was lucky to have a coach who forced us to refine constantly refine our strokes. it felt like being trapped in a mind clamp of boredom, I just wanted to pelt up and down the pool...he had us doing endless drills, not to mention repeating tumble turns and the use of arm paddles that melted your muscles like warm Nutella. But he did me a big favour. One that applies to planning as well as swimming.

I won races against bigger and stronger boys in the last few metres as their strokes fell apart. While strength and energy glossed over the, sometimes miniscule, flaws at the start, those little wrinkles in technique became too much. Strategy is a bit like that you know.

Maybe you've written a brief that sings, full of drama and inspiration, there's just a little nagging doubt,something just isn't quite right. There's the creative review where the work leaves you buzzing, but at the core, something doesn't feel quite right, it's nothing major, it'll be fine, it's interesting enough to gloss over that anyway.

But like the boys with the slightly flawed strokes, the further you go, the louder those quiet little cracks sing.

Hopefully someone in the team will bring this up, but to be honest, you're the planner, it's your job to make sure the thinking's water tight.

Now imagine you've let it lie. You're doing concept testing, the client's there, whole team's there, and it unravels. Or it gets to presentation to the board, and they rip your client to shreds.

And who will get the kicking? You will. You're the strategist, you should have pointed it out.

A little patience at the level of the brief, or a little bit of unpopularity when you play the logic card at the review really is worth it in the end.